Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity is a right leaning news organization based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Despite their non-partisan description, many people in their staff, including their founder, previously worked for right-wing organizations. Moreover, the Franklin Center receives funds from the Sam Addams Alliance and the Rodney Fund.

Affiliations
Though the Franklin Center’s site discloses information about their personnel’s affiliations and argues that it does not affect their credibility as a news outlet, most of those affiliations are not in the past. Jason Steverak previous employment includes Sam Adams Alliance and the Executive director for Rudy Giuliani’s Presidential Committee and six years as the executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party. Their site also argues that, “ABC News can’t hide the fact that …George Stephanopoulos is a former senior official with the Clinton administration as well as a senior member of his presidential campaigns”; however, Steverak’s previous employers are the Franklin Center’s current sponsors. Though the Franklin Center does not have to disclose its donors, records show that initially the Franklin Center received money from the Sam Adams Alliance Alliance which is funded through the Rodney Fund and State Policy Network; which are conservative and libertarian organizations. Furthermore, The Sam Adams Alliance sponsored a pro-Walker rally that included American Majority, a Tea Party training group.

News Outlets
The Franklin Center’s news outlets are also affiliated with the State Policy Network, “which aims to build a fifty-state network of free-market think tanks.”The Franklin center has reporters in over 40 states, including Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Reporter, established in Jan 2011, has only two employees and is reports on: La Crosse, Kenosha, Eau Claire, Wausau, Stevens Point, Chippewa, and Beloit. The Wisconsin Reporter recently posted a poll indicating that 71 percent of Wisconsinites think Walker’s Budget changes are ‘Fair.’ Data from the poll of 500 likely voters was managed by Pulse Opinion Research, owned by Scott Rasmussen, a trustee of Property and Environment Research Center, which has ties to the Koch Brothers and Exxon Mobile. The Rasmussen Poll also released a poll that “showed 48% of American voters supported Walker, while just 38% supported the unions,” said Evan McMorris-Santoro writing for TPMuckracking. “That poll was criticized for asking leading questions that seemed to point respondents toward opposing the unions.”

Sourcewatch resources

 * Charles Koch
 * Sam Adams Alliance
 * Rodney Fund
 * State Policy Network
 * Property and Environment Research Center
 * Koch
 * David H. Koch
 * Koch Family Foundations
 * Conservative

External resources

 * Franklin Center "For The Media"
 * Media Matters "Conservative Transparency"

Contact
Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity

DC Office 127 S. Peyton Street, Suite 200

Alexandria, VA, 22314

Office Phone: 571-384-2090

North Dakota Office

547 S. 7th St. #176

Bismarck, ND 58504

Office Phone: 701-214-5612

Email: info@FranklinCenterHQ.org

For media inquiries please contact Meghan Tisinger at Meghan.Tisinger@FranklinCenterHQ.org